Ginny glared over her shoulder at us, and Leelee gave her a little wave. I repeat, I was starting to like Leelee more and more.
“I just came over here to wish you luck,” she preened, sticking her chest out and closed the distance between them.
“Thanks.” Luke crossed his arms over his chest, looked at me and winked. Ginny was so consumed with sticking her chest out that she didn’t even notice that Luke wasn’t even paying attention to her.
“Are you going to run anymore tonight?”
“Yeah, probably three or four more passes.”
“I can stick around until you’re done and then we could go out on that date you promised.” She now had her hands in the back pockets of her jeans, her back arched.
“No thanks. I’ve got plans after these drags.” He grabbed a rag, wiped his hands and stuck it in his back pocket. “I’m a couple of minutes away from running again. You should probably head back to the stands.”
It took all my self-control not to raise my arms and cheer when Luke told Ginny to go sit down. In all my life I had never seen someone turn down Ginny Marco. Today was turning out to be a fantastic day even though I had to see Ginny again.
She reached out, trailing her fingers down his arm and batted her eyes at him. “Or, I could just stay here and when you’re done, you can forget about your other plans and we can find some place more private.”
“Oh, she did not just say that with you sitting right here,” Leelee said, crossing her arms over her chest.
I really wasn’t surprised. I knew Ginny was a piece of work, but nobody ever saw it before. It was rather refreshing to have Luke and Leelee see her for what she really was. “Um, I’m not really sure Luke and I are anything. Plus, I think Luke has it under control.” I nodded my head towards him just in time to see him back up and cross his arms over his chest.
“I think you need to go sit down, Ginny. I made a mistake by saying I would go out with you. I’m sorry but making up the date from last night is not going to happen.” My inner cheerleader did a cartwheel at his words, and I’m pretty damn sure the smile on my face was blinding.
Ginny looked over her shoulder at me and glared. “I never knew you liked to hang out with losers, Luke. First Violet, and now Leelee the grease monkey is hanging with you. Tsk, tsk. You’ll never get anywhere with those two.”
“I think it’s time for you to go, Ginny, and not come back.” Luke turned back around to work on the car, dismissing Ginny.
Ginny huffed, pissed that Luke told her to get lost. She stomped her foot and whirled around, glaring at me. “You probably don’t even know what to do with a man like that.”
“Probably not, but I’m going to have fun learning.” Leelee sputtered next to me, putting her hand over her mouth. What? It was the truth.
“Grr, I should have known you’d make friends with the dirty grease monkey,” Ginny spat, eyeing up Leelee.
“Y tu no eres mas que una puta.”
Ginny tossed her hair over her shoulder and walked away.
“I don’t think she knew what you said because I really doubt she should would have walked away,” I laughed, watching her retreating back.
“She’s too dumb to know what I just said.” Leelee hopped up on the tailgate next to me, swinging her legs. “How come I’ve never seen you before?”
“Um, that would be because I didn’t even know there was a race track out here and this really isn’t my thing.”
“But you’re with Luke?”
“Um, I guess. Maybe?”
“You’re with Luke. He’d be a fool not to want you.”
“I’m going to make another pass, you OK?” Luke asked, walking over to me.
“Yup, all good,” I said, nodding my head. Ginny may have been a bitch, but I was totally over it. “Everything OK with the car?” I was determined not to cry twice in a row in front of Luke.
He stood in front of me, looking me over, probably trying to tell if I was lying. “Mitch did a little bit of tweaking, so we’re going to see if it helped.” He looked at Leelee next to me and nodded his head at her. “Making friends, Princess?”
“As a matter of fact, I am. Although I found her through Kurt. This is Leelee.”
“Hey, nice to meet you,” Leelee said, raising her hand and waved at Luke.
“You’re not the Leelee I’ve heard about around the track, are you?”
“Um, I guess that all depends on what you’ve heard. That whole porta potty tipping thing was done in self-defense.” Leelee held her hands up, smirking.
“Well, I did hear about that, too, but I was talking about the fact I’ve heard you can tune a car like it’s nobody’s business.”
“Oh, that,” Leelee said, blushing. “That’s all truth.”
Luke nodded his head at her but didn’t say anymore. I elbowed her in the side, nudging her to ask him about a job but she didn’t say anything.
“And, Leelee is also looking for a new job, Luke. You don’t happen to know of anywhere that is hiring right now, do you?” If Leelee wasn’t going to say something, I would.
“You really looking?” he asked her. She nodded her head but still didn’t talk. She was killing me right now. “I’ve been thinking of adding a fourth to the shop. Business has been really picking up, and it would be nice to have an extra set of hands around. Why don’t you come out to the shop tomorrow and we can talk about what it would take to get you to work for me.”
Yes, Score! My inner cheerleader broke out in an all-out victory dance, splits and all.
“Cool. I’ll have to bring my brother with me, though, if that’s all right?”
“No problem. How old is he?”
“Fifteen,”
“I wonder if he knows my sister. He can hang out with her while we talk tomorrow.”
“Yo, Luke. Let’s go. We’re burning daylight,” Kurt called.
“Come to the shop tomorrow, we’ll talk more.” He nodded his head at Leelee then looked at me. “I’m going to need a good luck kiss again, Princess.”
I blushed so hard my face felt like it was on fire but that didn’t stop Luke. He leaned into me, brushing his lips against mine and whispered, “I love that I can make you blush, Princess. It makes me wonder what else is pretty pink right now.” He pressed one more kiss to my lips and sauntered back to his car.
“Oh my Lord, that man is fine with a capital F. I need to find me one of those. All I’ve been getting are little boys who need their asses kicked.”
I pulled my hair out of my face and fanned myself with my hand. “Well, maybe the apple didn’t fall far from the tree and maybe Mitch or Kurt can help you out.”
“Hmm, Mitch maybe, but Kurt has been a huge jerk to me. I’ll pass on the remaining Jensen brothers. Thank you very much.” Leelee crossed her legs and leaned back. “Those two are only good for looking at. You took the only good one.”
“Who took the only good one?” Mitch asked, setting his computer next to Leelee.
Boy, if only these two knew we’re talking about them. It would all go to their heads probably. “Oh, nothing. Just talking.”
Mitch nodded his head and went back to looking at the computer. “You think you got everything worked out?” Leelee asked, peeking at the screen.
“I think so. Hopefully, this will be the last run. I’d rather us run the car as little as possible before race night.”
Luke fired up the car and backed up into the water. “You want some drag racing lessons?” Leelee asked. I nodded my head, willing to take all the help I could get. “What Luke is doing right now is warming up his tires. The area he is in is called the staging area. Once he pulls up to the line, there are sensors in the track. He can move up seven inches before the light goes green. After the first yellow light lights up, .04 seconds later, the next goes. That happens three times. Then when it’s time for the green, Luke better be on top of that gas ready to get the hell out of dodge.”
“What happens if he goes further than seven
inches?” Luke burned out, smoke billowing everywhere and moved up to the start line.
“See how he’s edging up?” I nodded my head, yes, not taking my eyes off the car. “If he moves up too much, it’s called a red light, and he’s disqualified. OK, watch.”
The first yellow light went off, and then boom, boom, boom, the green went off, and Luke was gone again. I had my hands clasped in my lap, hoping he went faster but also afraid if he went faster he would get hurt. He crossed the finish line, and Leelee jumped off the truck jumping up and down.
I saw the numbers blinking on the big lite up sign, but I couldn’t make sense of which was which. “How did he do?” I asked Mitch.
Mitch had a huge grin on his face and was shaking his head. “11.9, 116.”
“That’s good, right?” It sounded good, better than his last run.
“Yeah, it’s really good,” Mitch laughed.
“It’s .9 faster than he has ever run. Fuck yeah,” Kurt shouted. I looked down the track, Luke headed back down, his arm out the window in a fist, pumping it.
“I’m assuming Luke knows that was pretty good, too,” I laughed.
“That was amazing,” Leelee said, “I got to get out of here, girl. I told Jake I would be back before he needed to go to bed. I need to check his homework over.” She wrapped me up in a hug and squeezed the hell out of me. “You’ll be at the shop tomorrow, right?”
“Um, I don’t think so. I have to work tomorrow.”
“OK, well, I’m sure I’ll see you around. We need to get together and do something without the boys around,” Leelee looked over her shoulder at Kurt and glared at him.
“OK, sounds good.” Leelee headed back through the gate, and I realized I had just made a new friend. Hell yeah.
“I know that look,” Kurt said, walking over to me and threw his arm over my shoulders. “You’re addicted to drag racing, aren’t you? I can still remember my first drag like it was yesterday,” Kurt said wistfully. “Wait till the big boys, Vi. There’s nothing like nitro in the morning.” Kurt closed his eyes and sniffed the air.
“We’ll have to see if I make it to the big boys. Luke might get sick of my twenty questions all the time,” I laughed, jumping off the tailgate.
“Yeah, I don’t see that happening anytime soon.” Kurt pointed to where Luke was, and I turned around to see him get out of the car and headed straight towards me.
“I fucking flew, Princess,” he laughed, wrapping me up in his arms.
“And also terrified me,” I giggled into his chest, enjoying the feel of his arms around me.
“We going one more time?” Mitch asked.
“One more, just to be on the safe side, then you and I are getting something to eat.” Luke leaned down, pressing a kiss to my cheek.
“Right on, I want pizza,” Kurt said, walking over and putting a hand on Luke’s shoulder.
“I swear to Christ you were dropped on your head as a baby,” Mitch scoffed. “I’m pretty sure we’re not invited to that victory dinner, little brother.”
Kurt turned around and yelled at Mitch. “Stop calling me little fucking brother. You’re not even a year older than me.”
“Do they do this often?” I whispered.
“More than you would think. One more run and then you and I can disappear without dumb and dumber with us.”
“They’re not that bad,” I giggled, watching Kurt go for the hose to squirt Mitch again.
“I swear to God if you get this computer wet I will cut your fucking legs off,” Mitch yelled, closing the computer and shielding it with his body. Kurt pounded Mitch’s back with water as he laughed his ass off.
“Not that bad, huh?” Luke said, rolling his eyes at me.
“OK, you might be right.” Luke held me tight and I closed my eyes.
Tonight was shaping up to be a much better than last night.
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Chapter 12
Violet
“You did not just take me to Lookout Point,” I giggled as Luke backed the car next to a tree.
“I sure as hell did, although I don’t think it’s called that anymore.” He shifted the car into park and turned in his seat to look at me. “Plus, I don’t really think it’s the place to be anymore.”
I glanced around noticing there was no one around. “I never came up here during high school, but I assume it was much more lively than it is right now.”
“I think I came up here a total of two times, and nothing ever happened except a big ass party that always ended with drag races down the hill.”
“Doubtful,” I laughed, shaking my head. I really doubt Luke came up here, and nothing happened besides drag racing.
“Scouts honor, Princess,” he held up his hand, “I was too into cars during high school to worry about much else.”
“I was only four grades behind you, how come I didn’t know you?”
“The only way you would have known me is if you were in shop class. Ninety percent of the time that was where you could find me. If I skipped class, it was so I could work on my car in the shop.”
“Hmm, a real gear head, huh?”
“Through and through, Princess. You hungry?” We had stopped at the grocery store and bought all the fixings for a picnic. I was drooling when Luke picked out a huge rotisserie chicken with potato salad and ten other mouthwatering things. I swear we bought enough to feed a family of five. All the ice cream and candy I had eaten earlier had worn off, and I was ready to eat.
“Starved.”
“I’ll pop the trunk. Grab the blanket out of the back, Princess.” Luke walked around to the back of the car, and I grabbed the blanket.
I hoisted myself out of the car, wondering if Luke had a vehicle that was normal height. His truck was jacked up to the sky, and his car was super low to the ground. I leaned against the door, hugging the blanket to my chest waiting for him.
“Toss the blanket next to the tree, Princess,” he called.
I laid out the blanket and Luke set the three bags of food on a corner. Yes, three bags of food. I had no idea how we were going to eat it all.
“You do realize,” I said, sitting on the blanket, “that we forgot to get plates and forks.”
“Well, then it’s going to be a true picnic then. I think I have some clean shop towels in the car we can use for napkins, at least.” He jogged over to the car, leaning into the open window.
“I guess that’s better than nothing.” I opened the bag closest to me, and the savory smell of roasted chicken hit me, and I moaned as I pulled it out and felt that it was still warm. I dug through the rest of the bags pulling everything out, surrounding myself with the food.
“Holy shit, did we really buy all this,” Luke asked, sitting down on the other side of the blanket.
“Um, I think this is what happens when you grocery shop hungry, you come home with all of aisle 4 and 6,” I laughed.
“I think you’re right, Princess. We’ll definitely have leftovers for Kurt and Mitch.”
Luke handed me a white rag and opened up the chicken. “You have white shop towels? Don’t they get dirty in two seconds?”
“Bleach, Princess. And we also have blue ones. We go through a lot of fucking laundry at the shop.” Hmm, I guess they probably would.
We sat in silence as we both ate, picking bits and pieces off of everything. “When did you buy the shop?” I had managed to pull the leg off the chicken and was nibbling on it in between eating grapes and strawberries.
“On my twenty-fifth birthday. I had known since I was sixteen that I wanted to own my own shop. Kurt and Mitch both came to work for me right away. After a year, business really started picking up. I had always been into street and drag racing, so with my own shop, I was able to work on my own cars and build up a reputation with all the racers. They saw what I was doing with my car, and they wanted the same done to theirs. I still do basic repair, but modification is where the real money is.” He tossed the picked over chicken i
nto the empty bag and grabbed a bunch of grapes. He leaned back on his elbows, tossing grapes into his mouth.
“When did Frankie move in with you?”
“Is this twenty questions, Princess?” he smirked.
“Possibly, just answer the questions.”
“Payback’s a bitch,” he laughed tossing a grape at me. I managed to catch it and popped it into my mouth. “Frankie moved in with me the night my parents died over a year ago.”
“How did your parents die?” I was being nosey, yes, but I felt like this was my one chance to get to know Luke Jensen.
“They were coming home from a card party at a friend’s house. It was one o’clock in the morning, and they collided head-on with a drunk driver.” He popped another grape in his mouth, acting like he just hadn’t told me his parents were senselessly killed.
“I’m so sorry, Luke.” I had no idea what else to say. I now knew what people felt like when they struggled to say something when I told people about my parents.
“It sucks, Princess. I was thirty-one not a care in the world, and suddenly it all comes crashing down. I’m fighting for custody of Frankie from my unreliable aunt all the while trying to build my business. I still don’t have the hang of it.” Luke tossed the last grape in his mouth and laid down on the blanket. “There’s days I wish I could go back to that night and change everything.”
“If you could change it, then nothing would be what it is now. You wouldn’t have such a strong bond with your brothers, you wouldn’t know Frankie like you do now. Although you lost your mom and dad, it helped you see the importance of family.”
“I don’t know how you do it, Princess, but with only a few words you help to make everything seem not so hard and heavy.”
“I only speak from experience.”
“Frankie told me you don’t have any family. What happened?”
Ugh, the question I still dread to this day. It had been four years, and it still ripped my heart apart to think or talk about my mom and dad. “My dad had a heart attack four years ago. He died instantly. My mother was completely heart broken. I had never known two people so in love as they were. It was four months after my dad had died, and I finally felt things were going to be OK. My mother had sold the bakery, and we were in the process of moving her into a new apartment. I went shopping with her on a Tuesday, and she was fine. I woke up Wednesday morning to a call from the movers saying that I needed to get to the hospital right away. Although it’s not an official diagnosis, my mother died of a broken heart. It was the day she was going to leave the house she had shared with my father for twenty-five years, and she couldn’t do it. She died just to be with him again.”
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